Out-and-regretting-it comprehensive attendee Jayden Phillips turns his cast-iron plans for life upside-down by falling in love with private-school violinist Darren Peace, a sardonic boy with the craziest hair Jayden's ever seen.<br><br>But all is not what it seems, and Jayden's bullying problem becomes meaningless when he is confronted with what the music does to Darren. How do you stop a dangerous depression rooted in the same thing that makes someone what they are? Dark moods, blank apathy, and the undertow of self-loathing all simmer beneath Darren's dry and beautiful veneer, and Jayden feels powerless to stop them.<br><br>Then a mugging gone wrong takes the music forcibly away, and Jayden is finally given the chance to change Darren's life -- and, quite literally, his mind.

Vivaldi in the Dark

“And when you decide to come out of the closet and tell us you’re hitting up Lucy Love from last year’s music camp, you know where to find me,” Scott said, peeling himself off the mattress and ruffling Darren’s hair again for good measure.


Scott stooped to hug him again, nearly strangling Darren with his shoulder. “Seriously,” he said lowly in his ear, “you haven’t properly talked to me since you were like twelve. I miss you, bro.”


Darren squashed the twinge of regret in the middle of his chest. “Call me ‘bro’ again, and you’ll be missing me from the seventh circle of Hell,” he threatened and shoved Scott off. The guy was like an octopus.


“Yeah, yeah. It’s adorable when you try to be a man.”


Darren hit him; Scott darted out the door, cackling like a madman, and Darren slammed it for good measure, ignoring Father’s thunder of “BOYS!” from the living room where Misha was still punching the shit out of the piano.


Chapter 30